


Day 20- Blood

by Broken_Clover



Series: Goretober 2019 [19]
Category: Guilty Gear
Genre: Blood, Dead People, Drowning, Gen, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-12-27 07:20:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21114905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Broken_Clover/pseuds/Broken_Clover
Summary: There was no other option, he tells himself. The blank face says nothing, but he knows they disagree.





	Day 20- Blood

Blood is always thicker than Venom expects it to be. It still runs in the same way that water does, but heavier, stickier. It clings to everything it touches, and trying to wipe it away only smears it more. Blood runs between fingers and flows with the tug of gravity, but trails of it stick to skin as a persistent reminder, tainting whatever it touches with the rank stench of iron.

It feels like wet mud as it comes up to his knees, sucking his feet back down every time he manages a slow, plodding step. He would worry about the force stealing his boots if he’d had any to begin with. The blood clings to his pants and soaks him, with wet fabric sticking to his skin with an uncomfortable warmth. 

Venom knows this place, even if he doesn’t want to admit it. The blood always begins at his ankles, and only rises further. The only hope he has is to try and find where it all ends, but he doesn’t know if such a place even exists. The only relief from it all is the lack of smell, mercifully out of the capabilities of a dream-world, no matter how twisted and demented it may become.

The deeper the red lake grows, the more shadows begin to appear. They don’t wade in it like he does. They just stand where they are, watching without eyes. Judging him. 

Walking becomes more difficult. Each step takes a monumental amount of effort just to lift up a leg. Venom knows that he has nobody but himself to blame for the blood; each and every drop was brought forth by his own two hands.

Bit by bit, the shadows regain their color. It remains muted and dull, like an old photograph left out in the sun too many times. They still don’t move from their frozen poses. Venom isn’t sure what he would do if they did.

Something interrupts his path forward. A figure stands across from him, small enough that the tips of their fingers graze the surface of the lake. Venom recognizes the pink arrow and glasses, even when shattered- though he finds no eyes behind them, no features of any kind.

He still knows what it’s trying to say, just standing there. _‘You did this.’_

“It was for the sake of the world.” Venom says. “I _had_ to stop you.”

When he blinks again, all of the shadows have joined behind it. Dozens of featureless faces stare at him in collective silence. Venom knows each and every one of them. He couldn’t erase the memories if he’d tried. Each and every one, a life taken by his own hands.

He expects them to say something, to do something. But before he knows it, the blood has risen to his shoulders, and the surface grows restless. He’s forced to swim in it, arms heavy and sluggish and only barely strong enough to keep him from drowning. 

Something snags around his ankle. Venom splashes and struggles in the thick, viscous liquid, but it’s no use. He’s not sure if the blood rises over his head or if he was pulled down beneath the surface. He forces his mouth shut and pinches his nose to keep a meager amount of air, continuing to try and paddle uselessly towards an ever-rising surface.

Venom would have expected that it would have been impossible to see anything. But when he looks down, he can make out the half-rotted hand grabbing his foot, keeping an iron grip as it pulls him further and further down.

The others are waiting for him as he descends. Venom can feel the last of his air depleting, and his lungs scream at him to swim as fast as he can, but all the strength in his body has gone. He watches the skeletons and half-rotted cadavers as they all reach up to grab onto him.

His victims seems to smile with glee as they drag him down, down, further into the darkness. He’s suffocating on blood, and Venom isn’t sure if he can manage to stay alive much longer.

_”Don’t worry.”_ They all speak in unison. _“We won’t let you die. You haven’t earned that luxury yet…”_

Venom awakens with a scream, drenched in sweat. Robo-Ky’s head flits to his bedside, curious about the commotion. He asks what he must have dreamed about to warrant such a racket. 

But Venom has already forgotten everything, at least until tomorrow night, when it starts all over again.


End file.
